International
Oil, Interest Rates, Geopolitics Undercut Asian Stock Markets
Asian stock markets largely declined Wednesday as tech issues again waffled, and traders weighed prospects for peace in the Persian Gulf.Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo finished in the red, as did most other regional exchanges.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and declined thereafter, closing down 1.2%, marking the fifth-straight trading day in the red.The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 746.18 to 59,804.41, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 181 to 42.Leading the upside was industrial conglomerate UBE, up 20.9% after disclosing plans to boost dividends, while machine tool manufacturer Okuma declined 10%.In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, closing down 0.6% on the uncertain Middle East outlook, and as interest rates edged up.The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 146.73 to 25,651.12, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 60 to 30. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.3 % on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 1.3%.Leading the upside was Semiconductor Manufacturing International, gaining 9.7%, while Laopu Gold declined 6.9%.On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 4,162.18.On the other regional exchanges, the South Korean KOSPI fell 0.9%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.4%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 1.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.5%, and the Thai Set advanced 0.8%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.1%The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7% on the day.In other news, Bank Indonesia raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.50% to 5.25%, citing a need to strengthen the rupiah, the nation's currency.
Hang SengNikkei 225Shanghai Composite
